This question popped up in the book Algorithms to Live By, a book about how we make decisions in life.
What a simple question in answer to “What do you feel like?” (Or the annoying “I don’t know what do you want to do?”)
Travel to somewhere familiar or new?
Eat comfort food at your fave spot or try crickets?
Watch an old favorite movie or re-run or gamble on a new one?
Try a new cookie recipe or fall back on tried and true Tollhouse cookies?
When you’re thinking about what drives your own decisions and those of your customers, this oh so basic question is a great place to start.
After arriving at the answer of “new” or “familiar and favorite” then follow with: What’s the motivator for that choice? Understanding the driver can lead to other revelations and decisions – such as slightly different and better twists on favorite to create something new yet also familiar enough.
At the 2017 Fancy Food Show Suzy Badaracco’s session on flavor trends highlighted the topic of fusion – in cooking techniques, in flavors, in ingredients, in twists. (She runs a food trend think tank.)
As always, the bottom line is to know what your customer wants and what you want to deliver that your customer will want, whether crickets, cronuts or pure chocolate.
